THE EFFECT OF THE PANDEMIC PROCESS ON THE NUMBER OF PATIENT ADMISSIONS, HOSPITALIZATIONS AND REFERRALS IN A SECONDARY EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT

Abstract

BACKGROUNDS/PURPOSE In December 2019, the respiratory disease caused by a coronavirus group virus, first seen in Wuhan, China, was named "coronavirus disease" (COVID-19). As a result of various decisions taken around the world to keep the disease under control, to provide healthcare services to diseases other than COVID-19, and to protect healthcare personnel from transmission, there have been some disruptions in healthcare service delivery. In this study, the daily number of patients admitted to the emergency department of a second-level district state hospital during the pandemic period, the number of patients hospitalized and the number of patients referred to another hospital were examined. These data were compared with the pre-pandemic and post-pandemic period. METHODS Applications made between January 01, 2019 and December 31, 2022 were examined retrospectively. The hospital where the study was conducted is a second-tier district state hospital serving a district with a total population of 130 thousand, approximately ten kilometers from the provincial center, and was not declared as a pandemic hospital during the pandemic period, but served both covid patients and patient groups presenting with non-covid complaints. Monthly data were collected on the number of patients admitted to the emergency department, the number of hospitalized patients and the number of patients referred to another institution during the four-year period. The effects of the pandemic period on the total number of admissions, referrals and hospitalizations were compared before and after the pandemic. In addition, the effect of the decisions taken by the Ministry of Internal Affairs during the pandemic on the number of patient applications on a monthly basis, and whether this change, if any, has an effect on the number of patient referrals and hospitalizations were investigated. RESULTS Although the number of patients admitted to the emergency department decreased significantly during the pandemic period, the total number of patients hospitalized and referred from the emergency department did not decrease at a similar rate. Within the framework of this information, we can say that among the patients who applied to the hospital, patients who needed to be hospitalized or who needed to be referred to another institution because treatment was not possible under hospital conditions received the necessary health services both during the pandemic period and before and after the pandemic. CONCLUSION Considering the significant decrease in patient admissions seen with the pandemic, it would be appropriate to examine whether the emergency department is used properly by patients outside the above-mentioned group (without hospitalization or referral) in order to ensure effective and quality health services.